“If the bees disappeared from the surface of the globe, then
man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination,
no more plants, no more animals, no more man”- Albert Einstein.
World Bee Day is celebrated every year on 20th May. This day
is intended to generate awareness about importance of beekeeping activities in
increasing yield of various agricultural and horticultural products and
providing income and employment support.
Beekeeping activities are being carried out by farmers in
rural areas under Integrated Farming System (IFS). Honeybees are one of the
best pollinators which enhances the yields and quality of produce of various
crops such as fruits, vegetables, pulses, oil seeds, etc. through pollination
support. They are vital for the preservation of ecological balance and biodiversity
in nature. By sucking on the nectar of flowering plants, bees spread pollen to
other plants and help with the fertilization process. About 85% of plants exist
because of bees and one-third of all food we eat depends on pollinators. Bees
pollinate nearly 70 to 100 types of crops.
Beekeeping provides income and employment to the rural
people by way of increasing yield of various crops along with providing honey
and other beehive products, such as - bees wax, propolis, pollen, royal jelly,
comb honey, bee venom, etc. which have great importance in human life.
Therefore, honeybees/beekeeping is being treated as one of the most important
5thinput for sustainable development of agriculture/horticulture.
Keeping in view the importance of beekeeping, GoI has
approved a central sector scheme “National Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM)”
(100% funded by Central Government) for overall promotion and development of
scientific beekeeping in mission mode to achieve the goal of “Sweet Revolution”
in the country. The Mission will have 3 sub-schemes/Mini Missions (MMs)-MM-I,
MM-II, MM-III.
Under MM-I, thrust will be given on production and
productivity improvement of various crops through pollination assisted by
adoption of scientific beekeeping. Integrated Beekeeping Development Centres
(IBDC), honey testing labs, bee disease diagnostic and treatment labs,
Api-therapy centres and other infrastructure will be set up. This will also
include development of nucleus stock & bee breeders, Custom hiring centres,
digitisation/online registration and insurance, promotion of bee-friendly
plants/flora/bee gardens, involvement and empowerment of women etc.
MM-II will concentrate on post-harvest management of
beekeeping/beehive products including collection, processing, storage, trading,
branding, marketing, value addition, packaging, etc. with a thrust to requisite
infrastructure facility for these activities. MM-III will be responsible for
Research and Technology generation for different Regions/States/Agro-Climate
and Socio-Economic conditions.
GOI has approved INR 500 crore for beekeeping initiatives
under Atma Nirbhar Bharat programme for NBHM for 3 years (2021 to 2023).
National Bee Board (NBB) has been designated as a Nodal Agency for overall
development/promotion of scientific beekeeping in the country.
The main theme of celebrating World Bee Day in year 2024 was
“Bee engaged with youths”, which highlights the importance of involving young
people in beekeeping and pollinator conservation efforts because saving the
bees leads to saving the plants and food and ultimately life on the earth. In
2025, the theme of World Bee Day is “Bee inspired by nature to nourish us all”,
which will shine light on the vital role of bees and other pollinators in
eco-system restoration, biodiversity conservation and food security and
nutrition.
Having usage of honey and other beehive products in daily
life, their importance in human health and dependency of world
agriculture/horticulture on bees as pollinators, mass-scale awareness campaigns
are being organized by various departments and institutions, Beekeeping helps
in prosperity of farmers, healthy people and strong nation and all citizens
must give their support for preservation of this life saving creature.
